Front
Welcome to the
Ironball
guitar amplifier. This compact, fully tube-driven amp delivers
"to die for" tone in a phenomenally portable package! This head, is the perfect sidekick for playing
small gigs, recording in studios, and practicing at lower volumes without sacrificing tone.
In fact, because it is stacked with hip features such as a balanced Line Out with speaker simulation,
a Headphones Output ideally suited for practicing without a speaker and a built-in Power Soak
with four variable power stages, this amp is well suited for a wide range of diverse applications.
It also comes loaded with a bevy of convenient sound-sculpting features designed to make your
musical life easier and more rewarding, including a built-in reverb system,
Gain Boost
, and
Master
Volume Boost
. This
M.V.B.
lets you access two different master volume levels on the fly via footswitch,
for example, one for rhythm and the other for leads.
Two matched EL84 pentode power tubes serve up the amp's sweet fundamental sound,
while the preamp's ECC83 (12AX7) tubes dish out heaps of distinctive tube overdrive and distortion.
The Ironball sports two channels, Clean and Lead; offerering plenty of variety for the tone connoisseur
courtesy of its two channels and the Gain Boost switch.
And, although the four foot-switchable features afford you even greater flexibility to shape sounds
spontaneously, handling these remains an exercise in convenience and simplicity. This ingenious little
amp is sure to delight with its warm, bluesy and very organic tone - simply unbeatable tube sound
quality on a top-notch level! But don't take our word for it...plug in, play, and enjoy!
You'll find guidelines on care and maintenance of tube amps and details for the Power Soak handling
in certain places of this manual. Please read and heed these before operating your amp. You'll also
come across boxes shaded grey throughout the manual.
These are located between the descriptions of the amp's functions and contain handy tips on the
preceding function. All critical information pertaining to the operation of this amp is preceded by
"NOTE" or "CAUTION."
Please pay particular attention to these safety tips. The ENGL team wishes you all the best—may you
and your amp enjoy a "harmonically rich" future together!
1 Input:
¼" unbalanced input jack. Plug your guitar in here using a shielded cord.
2 Clean Gain:
The Clean Gain control knob determines the preamp's input sensitivity and amplitude
when the Clean Channel is active.
A tip from the designer:
Here's how this knob's settings relate to the type of guitar pickup. If you are
using single-coils, the preamp will start breaking up at about 1 o'clock, and at around the 11 or 12
o'clock position with more powerful humbuckers or an active pickup. If you want a pristine clean
sound, back off the Clean Gain knob setting and switch off
Gain Boost
(10).
The power amp provides a moderate amount of headroom, so be sure to choose a relatively low
Master knob setting (lower than 12 o'clock) if you wish to avoid any kind of break-up.
Even in Clean mode, you can push both the amp's preamp and power amp hard enough to overdrive
the signal. If you want just a touch of preamp overdrive, I recommend the following settings for
single-coil pickups: Set the Gain knob between 2 or 5 o`clock and deactivate
Gain Boost
. For
humbuckers, set the knob between 11 and 3 to`clock o get moderate overdrive. Then when you
need a grittier tone perfect for playing rock riffs, all you have to do is activate the
Gain Boost
in
Clean mode.
CAUTION:
Extremely high gain and volume levels can produce powerful feedback. Avoid feedback
squeals; they can lead to hearing loss and damage speakers! At higher volumes, back off the Gain
and Treble levels in order to prevent unchecked feedback!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11
12
13
Bass
Middle
Treble
Lead
Volume
Master
Gain
Boost
Stand By
Power
Input
Presence
Ironball
Lead Gain
Clean Gain
Lead
Clean
